Ryno Motors developed one-wheeled electric motorcycle

I thought that one-wheeled motorcycles could only be seen in the science fiction movies. But thanks to Chris Hoffman, the formula for the motorcycle has been changed, and rightfully so.

In the end we have recieved something indigious with futuristic design.

If you buy it, you definitely won't meet something similar cause it is the only one of its kind.But we still have significant question: is it safe to ride this bike?

Well, it sounds like a bad idea, but it feels safe because of self-balancing technology.

Minimization works too

Instead of adding something to the design, Hoffman removed one wheel from the conventional design and his prototype could become trendsetter of a new era.

Hoffman’s one-wheeled RYNO motorcycle may be the next great thing in the history of motorcycles. The RYNO is currently a prototype which took seven years to complete and was inspired by a video game that Hoffman’s daughter was playing. The one-wheeled, zero emissions motorcycle uses technology similar to, but more advanced than, the Segway.

How it works?

It takes a special kind of magic to make an electric one-wheeled motorcycle not terrifying to ride, and Ryno Motors has pulled it off. The microcycle, which has a single 25-inch motorcycle tire and reaches speeds up to 10 mph, uses a combination of gyroscope sensors and accelerometers to balance itself. That, combined with a strategic weight distribution and an intuitive acceleration and braking method, makes this motorized unicycle from the future actually feel safe.

It’s a magnet for attention, too. Plenty of people at the WIRED New York office stopped by to check it out. Many of them wanted to ride it — in no small part because it looks and feels like something Syd Mead dreamed up. What inspired the vehicle is more cute than futuristic though.

“My daughter drew a sketch of a one-wheel motorcycle she saw in a video game and asked me to build it,” says Ryno CEO Chris Hoffmann. “She was 13 years old.”

What started out as a hobby seven years ago morphed into a business four and a half years later as the price of gyro sensors approached the $10 mark.

A lot of things in common with Segway

Rather than use a hand-throttle like a motorcycle, you juice the Ryno simply by leaning forward as you would on a Segway. Leaning forward on the handlebars forces the sensor-balanced wheel to adjust its position for balance, which propels you forward. Braking is as easy as leaning back, but there’s also a hand brake if you’d rather slow down that way.

The Ryno is able to handle inclines up to a 20-percent grade, so it’s largely San Francisco-friendly. It also takes about six hours to charge up fully using a 12-volt DC charger. That gives it a range of about 10 miles or an hour per charge at top speed. Real-world usage - stopping, starting, and going more slowly - will probably yield quite a bit more than that. The removable, rechargeable batteries also power the Ryno’s LED headlights and light-up dash display.

It’s hard to describe what it feels like to ride the Ryno, but the main takeaway is it’s much easier and safer than it seems. The vehicle really does balance itself without a hitch, and getting the hang of leaning forward and backward to accelerate and decelerate takes only a few seconds.

Indeed, the self-balancing skills of the Ryno are impressive to the point of being miraculous. With the vehicle turned on and no one seated on it, Hoffmann pushed down as hard as he could on the handlebars while standing in front of it. It didn’t even budge on its single wheel as the gyro and motion sensors kicked in. Of course you can still tip it over from side to side fairly easily, but obviously your legs are there for stabilization.

3D Printer details are in use here

A lot of what feels safe about riding the Ryno has to do with weight distribution. The entire vehicle weighs 160 pounds, with the wheel-and-motor portion accounting for most of that (140 pounds). That makes it feel extremely bottom-heavy and rooted to the ground. It also makes it easier to pick up. The lightweight seat and frame, which are made from a combination of CNC tube benders and 3D-printed parts, rocks back and forth on the wheelbase and absorbs shock.

Parking

How do you park a 160-pound unicycle? That’s another clever aspect of the Ryno’s design. The front of the vehicle’s frame comes together in a rubber-footed bar. Simply tipping the vehicle forward rests it on that bar like an oversized kickstand. Little foot pegs fold out from the sides of the tire; you can flip them down if you want to use them or lock them upward if you want to ride free-footed.

Like a Segway, the Ryno should be fine to use on sidewalks and bike lanes, but those regulations vary from state to state and city to city. In New York City, for example, a security guard could ask you to stop riding the Ryno on an empty sidewalk. That’s probably because the vehicle looks a lot heavier and faster than it actually is.

To help with the Ryno’s adoption as a mainstream personal transportation vehicle, the company has enlisted an independent legal counsel to go from city to city to lobby for permission to ride it on

Production

The single wheeled motorcycle will go into production soon (hopefully this year), with a price tag of $5 295. The production facility will be based in Portland, Oregon and Hoffman’s team is aiming to set up dealerships across the US, so potential customers can try the one-wheeled marvel themselves before buying one.